Suspected militants have killed at least 21 civilians in an overnight attack on a community in eastern DR Congo.
According to Ricardo Rupande, President of the Ruenzori Sector Civil Society, assailants believed to be the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels invaded the community of Masambo on Sunday night.
In the Ruenzori area, the village is roughly 40 kilometres east of Beni.
Since the 1990s, the ADF has been operating in eastern Congo as a Ugandan militia. Since its rebirth in 2013, it has been accused for thousands of killings, many of them in midnight massacres with machetes and hatchets.
“It is a miracle I survived. We were already in bed when we heard the sound of boots outside and bullets. It was after hearing victims’ cries that we realized it was a rebel raid,” said Kakule Saanane, a resident of Masambo.
He and Rupande both stated that the bodies of 21 civilians have been discovered so far, but that the death toll might climb.
Congolese army spokesman Antony Mwalushayi said the army will make a statement after the security evaluation of the zone was completed.
In December, Uganda dispatched around 1,000 troops to Congo to participate in coordinated operations against the ADF.
Recall, on March 25, News Central TV reported that 12 persons including one soldier and 11 civilians were killed in a rebel attack in DR Congo’s troubled northeastern province of Ituri.